Red Elephant Cafe

Ate lunch here with my 7 yr old. Great kid food options as well as salads and rice bowls. I had the veggie rice bowl with mojo flavoring. Really good especially for the price. Friendly staff. Clean and comfortable.

I got the pick two lunch which was a half salad and sandwich. I ate the delicious roast beef first. .making it hurt to only give 3 stars. My «Greek» salad looked like the kind of salad a sandwich place makes— miscellaneous types of leftover lettuce, mismatched peppers — you get me? Sorry. Greek salad doesn’t come with balsamic vinegar as a dressing. Such a disappointment.
3 stars because the sandwich was delicious but any salad lover will be disappointed. Oh and don’t gorge to pick up your own silverware and napkins– because they won’t tell you and otherwise you’re food will arrive and you will look silly staring at it.

Came with a group of 8 including 4 kids. Had burgers, fries, salad and wings. Everyone enjoyed their meals. Good value for money.
Kids loved the soda machine with a ton of coca-​cola products.
Dessert selection was poor so we skipped it.
Staff were friendly and attentive.

Ordered from them through Doorstep Delivery (great service by the way) and got a couple burgers with fries. Burgers were slightly above average but the French fries…, WOW! Amazing. Even if you just go in and get fries, do it. If you don’t like them something is wrong with you.

I first visited red elephant in Jacksonville, FL and I was blown away by this restaurant! To my surprise, we have a red elephant in Tampa, this isn’t an ordinary-​quick-​eat-​restaurant.
Red Elephant is so much more, the menu has something for everyone. Pizza, burgers, AMAZING salads, rice bowls, seafood, everything you could ask for.
The prices and portions are fantastic. If you have a healthy appetite, this is the place for you!
Their pizza is made fresh, the dough and sauce are delightful. Their loaded fries are mouth watering.
I ALWAYS order the siesta key salad with balsamic dressing. Such a fresh, fruity, delicious salad.
Red elephant has beer and great food, casual fun, affordable environment, definitely stop by.

I ordered the Chicken rice bowl with the Mojo sauce and black beans. It reminded me of something I might make at home. So I am suggesting it is good quality and better than cleaning up after yourself.
I’m going to have to give it another try to see if there is something out of this world, but as of now I would recommend for a quick lunch that is not your standard burger or taco.

I had every intention of writing nothing short of a fantastic review, as this is my fourth time here and the food has been condistently good.
Today however, while walking to the drink fountain I made eye contact with a lady in the far back kitchen part to the right of the counter — she was putting food in her mouth with her bare fingers. Ummmm not okay! That being said, I hope someone sees this post and addresses this issue because the food is just amazing!

From the outside, Red Elephant looks so small and the plaza it sits in is not necessarily that big either.
However, once inside the door, there is plenty of room for this café and they feature a very diverse and delicious menu.
I’ve had pizza, sandwiches, salads and rice bowls (No, not all at the same time) and always taste the freshness.
The Rebecca’s entrée salad with blackened chicken on my most recent stop was the best item I’ve had yet. Since it was take-​out, the chicken was placed inside aluminum foil to stay hot until placed on the salad and there was so much of it.
Previous experiences with the Asian Glaze rice bowl and the West Shore Grinder were also very flavorful and the food is prepared very quickly for take-​out orders.
Those chicken rice bowls and small pizzas are also on special pricing every day from 3−8pm.
I have actually recognized a number of employees here from other restaurants, which may explain why my service is always really good too.
At a very, very busy Tampa intersection, your best option is to park around the side of the building when picking up take-​out or even dining in. It just gets a little busy getting in and out of there when the fitness place next door has a class finishing up.

Good place for lunch or light dinner. Good customer service, seems pretty clean
I went with roast beef dip and French onion soup. Not expensive at all! And tasty… The soup was one of the most flavorful French onion soups I’ve had.

one of my favorite dishes in Tampa is the roasted cream rice bowl with chicken. everything about it is perfection. it has so much flavor from the cheese that tops it off, to the seasoned chicken, the rice has a little kick to it, and I think it has basil, along with corn and little carrot pieces. try it and let me know what you think? I would like to try other things on the menu but I’m stuck on this bowl. I think I had their Asian rice bowl but I wasn’t as impressed. try an elephant ear for dessert.

This is another place that I’ve passed by daily and had on my radar. The wife and I finally came here a few days ago for lunch (Friday afternoon around 1ish and it wasn’t packed), and found that this place is a pretty nice little gem. The menu isn’t huge, but there is a somewhat decent variety and selection of items (burgers, sandwiches, wraps, salads, pastas). The wife had the mojo bowl with steak, which was very good. It was kinda chipotle burrito bowl/​Okinawa taco rice-​ish (if anyone knows what I’m talking about). I had the roast beef French dip with onions and mushrooms, and a Caesar salad. It was so delicious. The sandwich was not greasy and it was quite flavorful. The au jus was good, but somewhat salty, which wasn’t a problem for me. In fact, I didn’t really notice that until the last few bites. They have the really cool drink machine with a million choices here, which we’re big fans of. They also have a number of craft beers available. The price was reasonable (around 20ish total for the both of us) as well. We will be coming back here again, as my wife really wants to try the pizzas (which looked sooo good) and or one of the other bowls. The place was clean, its big enough inside, and the staff was friendly, so all in all it was a good lunch with my wife!

The service was great both times that we went during our vacation. I ordered the broccoli cheese soup and it was the bomb. However, the salads are like the signature plates. The portion is awesome for the price & the taste is awesome! Nothing taste out of the can, all natural. I would recommend anyone to go!
Oh & there was a different manager or supervisor each time and they were just as helpful always.

Won’t come back. Went four times. First time too spicy and the second time I mentioned that and she said no problem they could tweak it. They made it perfect!
The third time — horrible. This time worse. The pasta was so thick your fork would stand up. Chicken has NO taste at all. My partner had chicken caesar. No taste at all. And they put hot chicken on top of lettuce. Who does that? People usually reduce temp on chicken before putting in salad or put it on side.
Anyway — no taste. It seems like in the beginning they had the right people in the kitchen. Now they don’t. We were there four times for lunch and seems less and less busy. Might be a trend because of the food. My personal take is I won’t go back. I think the kitchen needs some help.
When they opened it was good. I think the people that were or should Be in the kitchen are in management or left or they are less concerned with quality.
Pleasant environment. Easy parking. Clean. Nice. Good beverage selection. It’s just too bad the food is bland and not good.
Sorry.

I get hungry a lot. And I often get hungry in the middle of running errands whilst I am by myself. During these hunger attacks– it is important I get food quickly so I may resume my productivity. So, I am very appreciative of «fast casual» restaurants– places I can get good food, but not have to look like a loner in a restaurant by myself.
After passing it quite a bit, I finally came into Red Elephant one day because one of my friends told me they had Gluten Free pizza. Unfortunately when I got to this one– I learned that this location does not have GF pizza (sad face) — apparently only the North Dale Mabry has it at this time.
Despite my disappointment, I ordered a Balsamic wine chicken rice bowl and it was delicious! They also have one of those million flavor coke machines.
The staff was super friendly. The food arrived to my table quickly. I was on my way back towards Target and Homegoods in no time. Mission accomplished.

From first smell, the restaurant reminded me of Pizza Hut.
I was pleasantly surprised by the selection of menu options though — from bowls to salads to pizza. I had heard a lot about the restaurant but never experienced it first-​hand myself. It was a decent meal but I’ll be honest, the pizza at Pizza Hut is tastier and less expensive.
The restaurant is clean and workers pleasant.

I didn’t know what to expect walking in, but it’s just like Pei Wei (order at counter, they give you a number and cup and you go sit down). I ordered the southwest chicken wrap and WOW I will dream about this wrap! It’s so tasty and fresh! My husband swears by the French dip. For two meals with sides (chips, slaw, fries…) and drinks it cost about $ 15 which is great.
Highly recommend for lunch – I have already been back 3 times in Oct!

Came for lunch with a friend and fell in love with Red Elephant!
The Line Up:
Soup/​Sandwich combo– French Dip & French Onion (Bonjour!)
We both ordered identically and inhaled our lunches! Savory, delish… nice portions & we were both interested in more (Oliver Twist? Please sir… more?).
Customer service was grand! The gentleman (manager? owner?) who took our order welcomed us, asked about our previous dining experience and thanked us for coming in. He then came by the table later to see how we were enjoying our meals & this place was hopping.
Throw in the 100 choices drink machine & we have a go-​to for lunch from now on. Yeah!

The Red Elephant Café is good choice for lunch or a light dinner. There are plenty of healthful options on the menu and the pricing is pretty decent. The staff is extremely friendly and very customer service oriented. I’ve had the french dip sandwich and french onion soup… delish. The Mediterranean Mahi bowl was okay… not over the moon about it, but pretty good. My children (ages 6 and 2) have had the pizza both times we’ve gone and I have to say that I’ve stolen a slice here and there.
Not to be missed? The Elephant Ears w/​Ice Cream… dangerously good!

I’ve always driven by Red Elephant Café thinking it was an Asian type restaurant, like Indian or Thai. I mean, elephant? Well, I was obviously wrong. Their menu is weird but cool because it covers a wide variety of selections. Salads, sandwiches, burgers, pasta, pizza, rice bowls. It’s kind of like a mini-​food court.
I went for the Siesta Key Salad, which had ham, turkey, apples, strawberries, pineapples, and cinnamon pecans. Pretty good, and it was a pretty large portion. I ordered a water, but they have one of those coke machines where you can make your own flavors. My friend and I both went for a flavored water from the options of peach, raspberry, strawberry, lemon, and more. (which we probably had to pay for. oops, oh well.)
I was super excited to see that they had elephant ears as a dessert. Fair food while not at the fair? Cool! But sad to see that when it came out, it was puny and not fair quality at all. Chewy, and not light and fluffy and huge, like I’m used to. It may be more expensive at the fair, but at least those are as big or bigger than the plate.
No wow’s + disappointing elephant ear = 3 stars.

Why 3 stars? Because I had a pretty good meal.
— — —
Some people may look at a 3 star review as a bad thing, and admittedly, there are definitely «good 3-​stars» and «bad 3-​stars.» Red Elephant definitely fit into the «good 3-​star» category. Why?
–The employees are extremely friendly.
–They have one of those coke machines with hundreds of flavors built in.
–The food is pretty good.
–It’s a nice looking setup.
Why is Red Elephant not 4 or 5 stars?
–The menu is not very extensive.
–What isn’t on the menu isn’t that exciting.
I will check out Red Elephant again, as I am sure there will be improvements and tweaks as time goes on… but it’s not bad now, despite only being open a couple of weeks!